debt ceiling. >> narrator: early on, republican freshmen attended orientation sessions. republican strategist frank luntz ran one of them. >> and i asked the question, how many of you are going to vote for the debt ceiling? and only three or four of them raised their hands. and i said, if you vote for the debt ceiling, the people who put you in office are going to knock you out. >> if you vote for the debt ceiling, you're voting for your own death certificate, political death certificate. >> narrator: for his part, the president decided to try something new: personal politics. he figured he could connect to the republican leader, john boehner. >> obama told his staff, john boehner is a country club republican, a golf-playing, cigarette smoking deal-maker. >> narrator: the president invited boehner to play golf with him at andrews air force base. >> and afterward, they go back to the clubhouse, and they're having a drink; there's a photo op. and it's at that point when boehner says to the president, "hey, you know, on this debt ceiling stuff, we ought to do something big.